Thursday, June 27, 2013

I went over last week to our new quilt shop, The Quilt Loft, in Upland CA. I just happened to be in the area. (big grin)

I didn't realize it was during the time of the quilter's run, and there were gift baskets to be given away.

Well, never one to pass up a chance to win, I signed up for the drawing. I made the comment that I never win anything when I dropped my name in the hat! Guess what? I won one of the baskets!

Keri McClung, the owner, called me with the good news. I stopped by yesterday to pick it up. The basket is filled with everything to make a small quilt. The pattern is "Basket Lattice" by Sheri Pape Designs. Theres's a Bali Pop, the black background, and even the backing and binding for the quilt! Penny likes the goodies! I think she was looking for a treat!

Keri also included in the basket a market bag from Andover Fabrics. It's large and roomy. I love these types of bag!

If anyone is in the area, The Quilter Loft is located at 300 N. Mountain in Upland. Their phone number is 909/949-0444. Such a cute shop!!

Friday, June 21, 2013

I don't know what I did to the settings on my camera. I must have hit something and now I can't figure out how to get it back to normal. Seems like the story of my life!

Anyway, excuse the blurry pictures.

I had to run an errand today, so I decided to stop by the Quilt Loft, the new quilt shop in Upland/Montclair. I don't know which city it's in because the town borders are all jumbled up there. Sheesh, I'm a bundle of confusion these days, and I can't even blame it on drugs!

Anyway ....

I got to visit with a couple of friends there, and I did manage to leave a little bit of money behind. It's been forever and a day since I've been in a quilt shop. It was fun looking around the new shop.

This new Creative Grids Pineapple Trim Tool caught my eye. They had a display with the step-by-step sewing process.

It sure looked easy enough. I'll give this a whirl when I get the new machine set up in the new table so I can finally sew. I was thinking driving home that this would look great in the old Robyn Pandolph fabrics -- you know, back when she was with Moda. I'll probably choose a blue for the centers and then go from there. Lord knows I have enough RP fabrics to quilt the world!

The cutest little Sandy Gervais pattern, "Peak Color," using her Posh Pumpkins line. I love her little patterns. I've made several of them but none are quilted yet. At least I don't think any are quilted. Need to definitely get going on remedying that!

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And I couldn't resist "All A Flutter," a Cotton Way pattern by Bonnie Olaveson. I absolutely adore Bonnie and Camille's patterns.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

I had a wonderful trip, but it was hot and wet! Even when it wasn't raining, it was wet! I'll sure need to get used to that again. I now fully understand when people talk about dry heat!

Pretty much stayed in the air conditioning. The one time I went outside with the neck brace on, I was steaming!

I didn't take many pictures, but here are a few.

I am captivated by Resurrection fern. It grows on all the oak trees down there. When it doesn't rain, the fern is brown like in this picture.

Immediately when it started to rain, the fern greened up! It would stay green for a day or two and then turn brown again.

It did that a few times while I was there. I loved watching it!

Also I was so sad that I missed the azaleas. While walking around the yard, I found a bloom -- one bloom -- but that was enough!

And there was a turtle in the pool one morning! (S)he was rescued, but was fun to watch for a while. Those suckers swim fast! When we would go near the pool, it would dive down to the bottom and tuck in the shell.

I ate lots of shrimp, fish, and attended a crawfish and crab boil. It was so hot there that day that I ate very little. The next day my family made crawfish etoufee out of the leftovers, so I was a happy camper!

Penny is waiting to be picked up, so I must get a move-on! I miss that little snot! ﻿

Sunday, June 09, 2013

This trip was very hastily planned as I wasn't cleared to fly until Saturday, June 1st, when the doctor called me with test results. I flew out on Tuesday. The trip about did me in. It took two days to recover, but I can report that all is better now.

I was awakened this morning by rumbling thunder. O-M-G, it's raining so hard outside! If this much rain hit Southern California, we'd be sliding off into the Pacific. I tried standing on the porch to watch the rain, but the lightning scared me. So I'm snuggled up on the sofa with a cup of coffee listening to it really coming down hard. I love this kind of weather, but, of course, I'm not a farmer and I don't have to drive on the freeways today, so that's easy for me to say!

So far I haven't done much here except trips to Lowe's, Walmart and Winn-Dixie! I was going to do some exploring today, but I guess that's out with the rain. I sure hope I can get some boiled crawfish while I'm here. My brother and sister-in-law had a commitment this weekend, so I was on my own. I was invited to meet friends at a restaurant to get crawfish last night, but I had no clue how to get there, so thought it best I not get lost on dark country roads. I'm sure Search & Rescue have more important things to do than go looking for a lost Left Coast gal!

Speaking of that, I'm reminded again and again that I'm a "foreigner" in this part of the country. It's really funny because hardly a day goes by in California without someone asking me where I'm from - the accent, you know. Well, two or three times this past week someone here asked me the same question. Sheesh...

I might try to embroider a bit today. I've had no luck thus far because of the weakness of my left hand, but I keep trying.

I'll see if I can't pick up a camera cord this week and post some pictures.

Gosh, I'm happy as a pig in mud being here. Too bad I've used up every bit of leave and vacation for these surgeries. It will be a long while before I'm able to come home again.